In other industries, illustrious firms almost always go out with a whimper. Few even notice their demise. When they do finally disappear, the obituaries may as well have been written years in advance. Everyone sees the end coming. This is not so often the case in finance. In its short history, Long-Term Capital Management…
The whaling industry in the United States used to be considerable, particularly in coastal parts of New York and New England. Yet, it is rather forgotten about, certainly outside of those regions. Whaling was a very risky venture but one in which potential profits were large enough to entice businessmen and investors anyway. After…
It was not straightforward to be an automaker at the onset of the 2008-09 recession. New cars are discretionary purchases that nervous consumers can put off for the future. When shares in Volkswagen kept rising despite this, and there was no reason to think the company should be exempt from the reality afflicting its…
Winston Churchill may have been a great adventurer, writer, speaker, and leader. He was not so great in managing his personal finances. Indeed, he was perpetually in debt and almost always spent more than he earned. Of course, some of this may be a justifiable lifestyle preference, defensible since he always had friends around…
If you needed to borrow money in 6th century China, and neither family nor associates in business could be relied on, you had few places to turn to. There were no banks. Even private moneylenders, at least with operations that extended far beyond the skill and time of a single person, were few. The…
At the start of the 19th century, the origin of much of France’s wealth was from land and much of this held by aristocrats. Even in urban and commercial Paris, aristocrats made up a considerable share of the wealthiest residents until well into the century. As the 1800s came to an end though the…
In Britain like other countries, share ownership became much more widespread over the course of the 20th century. The print media responded to this by publishing more content dedicated to investments. In the U.K., even lowbrow tabloids offered extensive financial advice and their role as advisers to their millions of readers continued into the…
Before capital markets were sufficiently developed to raise large amounts of money but after the point in which even the largest enterprises, governments included, could be funded by a single family, other institutions acted as financial intermediaries. Banks and insurance companies were such intermediaries but before they achieved large size there were institutions such as…
Inflation can destroy the value of long term fixed-rate bonds, especially when that inflation is volatile or rising. If inflation gets out of control, it can become difficult to find willing lenders in a currency people have little faith in. For much of the mid-20th century, France was plagued by inflation that was high by…
While lending at interest came under official scrutiny in medieval Europe, annuities did not. Though an annuity is usually thought of today primarily as a tool in retirement planning, in the Middle Ages, annuities were used to raise money for monasteries, property developers, merchants, artisans, landowners, cities, and countries. After receiving official sanction, life and…
